A History of Atlanta Drag Bars – Geia Voice – Gay & LGBT Atlanta News

Contents:

• LEGENDARY GAY BAR ATLANTA EAGLE IS REOPENG MIDTOWN
• GAY CLUBS
• THE 5 BEST ATLANTA GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS ATLANTA
• ANSLEY SQUARE GAY BARS RENOVATG, STRATEGIZG TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BELTLE
• BT GAY AND LBIAN BARS IN ATLANTA
• WHICH GAY BARS MA ATLANTA MAGAZE’S BT OF LIST?

LEGENDARY GAY BAR ATLANTA EAGLE IS REOPENG MIDTOWN

BackstreetOne of the largt gay bars the Southeast, this two-story Midtown club was among the few Atlanta nightspots wh a 24/7 liquor license. Home to Charlie Brown’s Cabaret and a dis floor that drew gay and straight revelers, Backstreet was the go-to place to party after other clubs It stopped ra’ men 2004 after a cy ordance mandated 3 a. Gay nightclubs sprg up, like the Cove Morngsi and the Armory Midtown, as well as drag bars like Hollywood Hots on Chhire Bridge and Mrs.

He gets help when Blake’s, the gay Cheers, opens. After closg two years ago, one of Atlanta’s olst and most legendary gay and leather bars is reopeng Midtown, and right before Pri next month.

GAY CLUBS

Succsfully fdg a gay club an unfaiar cy n be tryg. We let you know which on ter to gay men or lbians, what kds of shows and entertaments they host, and what tracks the DJs sp. Among the most celebrated gay bars Atlanta has to offer, Mary's has been named Atlanta's bt gay bar by "Creative Loafg" and one of the top 50 gay bars the world by "Out" magaze.

THE 5 BEST ATLANTA GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS ATLANTA

The ial hangout for anyone weary of over-the-top gay clubs Atlanta, The Hiout is the olst remag gay bar the cy. When to gay clubs Atlanta, Jungle is the preferred hot spot for dited dancers.

An old-school landmark amongst gay bars, this Atlanta hot spot is still one of the most beloved plac to party Midtown. One of the most unpretent gay clubs Atlanta, the Eagle, a nontradnal leather bar, has been drawg wonrfully diverse and amible crowds for s.

A lotn near Piedmont Park, floor-to-ceilg wdows lookg out on 10th Street, and a iendly, sual vibe distguish this neighborhood bar, whose clientele is largely gay. In 1975, at the dawn of dis, Backstreet officially opened for bs at 845 Peachtree Street the heart of the begng, the massive, three-level, 10, 000-square-foot space ( had hoed Lang’s Interrs the 1950s), tered almost exclively to the cy’s burgeong whe gay male populatn.

ANSLEY SQUARE GAY BARS RENOVATG, STRATEGIZG TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF BELTLE

Vara, ] my dad’s dad, owned the Punch Bowl, one of the most proment gay bars Boston. My grandfather knew gay clubs were big money.

Our dad, Carme Vara, ran gay nightclubs Boston and Provcetown. He also owned a place Provcetown lled the Crown & Anchor, which was a hotel, gay bar, and baret for female impersonators.

Gay clubs ma good bs sense. Gay people played hard, they drank hard, and they danced hard and had more money to spend than the straight crowd. He wanted to be a whe male gay club.

BT GAY AND LBIAN BARS IN ATLANTA

I learned, livg through the civil rights and the gay rights eras, how to al wh . The club wanted to mata a gay, male-domated bar. I was om Tennsee—wh all those ty gay bars—and, sudnly, I’m standg si a three-story club.

RUSSELL BOWEN-YOUNGBLOOD: Atlanta gay nightlife photographer Bowen-Youngblood was a Backstreet ctomer om 1994 to 2004. They told me was a gay club, but that didn’t matter to me. It was my first experience si a gay club.

WHICH GAY BARS MA ATLANTA MAGAZE’S BT OF LIST?

It wasn’t like I was attracted to gay men. Pl, we hired big nam to perform the Sunday Tea Dance: Gloria Gaynor, Bonnie Poter.

I paid my rent wh the tips that For years, was mostly a gay crowd. But after we got the 24-hour liquor license [ 1987], was a gay bar until all the other bars town closed and then, everyone piled to Backstreet. The later got, the straighter I had been workg at Backstreet, a gay club, for years but I didn’t officially e out until I was 32.